Our appliances

What we’re doing

In conjunction with the Energy Cultures 2 project, we’ve rolled out a national household survey to 2700 people to provide insight into how New Zealanders interact with energy in their homes.

Analysis of the survey responses were undertaken to explore specific household appliance use, appliance settings, heating methods, hot water cylinder information, energy costs and household demographics. Where possible, results were also compared to data from an earlier survey undertaken in the Energy Cultures project to explore change over time.

What we’ve found out so far

Fewer homes in 2014 own or use portable electric and gas heaters than in 2010. More are using heat pumps and enclosed wood burners, and more people report that they are happy with their heating methods and don’t want to change them. However, nearly half those with a heat-pump are taking advantage of the cooling function available on heat pumps, and some are even setting it as low as 10 degrees.

Over 70% of those we surveyed are using electric water heating, and most are using this for showers; of all those who had a bath, only half use it.

For further information about the appliances Kiwis own and how they use them, please refer to “Household Energy Survey: A graphical summary report of findings“ to be published soon.